Kawi Letter Da

𑼣 is Kawi da: a consonant with an inherent a vowel. In Latin-letter transliteration, its usual syllable is written da: d followed by the built-in vowel a.

Kawi is an abugida, a writing system where each consonant comes with an inherent vowel. A dependent vowel sign changes it; a cancellation sign removes it. A conjoiner joins consonants into a cluster.

Where did Kawi come from?

Kawi developed in Java from Pallava writing. Pallava is a South Asian script in the broader Brahmi family. Kawi was used to write Old Javanese, Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Balinese and Old Sundanese. Inscriptions and manuscripts attest to it from the 8th through the 16th century; letter shapes varied by place, period and writing material.

Kawi served practical and religious writing. Inscriptions recorded grants and land arrangements, while manuscripts carried literature, history, medicine, ritual and religious teaching. The 863 CE Wukiran stele, an upright inscribed stone, combines a rice-field grant with devotional and legal language.

Modern Javanese and Balinese scripts descend from Kawi. The Laguna Copperplate, a legal document found in the Philippines and dated 900 CE, uses Early-Kawi-like writing and reflects maritime links with areas now called Malaysia and Indonesia. It is not Baybayin, the later Philippine script; the two are distinct writing systems.